DD relaxes norms for prime time slot bidders as incentive

In a third attempt to attract producers to bid for prime time slots, Doordarshan has announced a series of concessions once the programmers come on board, including lowering base price for a 30-minute slot to Rs. 150,000.DD sources told indiantelevision.com that the only eligibility criterion that has been relaxed is that the basic price for auction has come down to Rs 150,000 (Rs 1.5 lakh) for a 30-minute slot. It was Rs 250,000 when the auction was announced in June this year, and was then decreased to Rs 200,000 when the new date was set for the second auction in early September 2016.The details of the criteria for bidders likely to be made public sometime later today and the prospective bidders can apply by 22 November 2016. Most of the other eligibility norms remain the same as earlier in the New Content Acquisition Scheme that has been approved by Prasar Bharati Board.Producers/production houses that have produced at least 200 hours of general entertainment programming, including feature film productions in any Indian language in the last three years, and have a turnover of minimum Rs. 30 million per annum in the field of TV and film production in the last three financial years are eligible to apply.Applicants for weekend slots in the genres of reality, game and quiz are required to have produced 100 hours of such content in the last three years.

However, DD sources told indiantelevision.com that certain changes had been made for successful bidders to promote their programmes.Successful bidders will now also be allowed to approach and obtain advertisements from public service undertaking for their programmes on Doordarshan, which was not permitted earlier. Doordarshan has also laid down a compulsory number of promotional commercials, which will be free, on various channels of Doordarshan network.In addition, successful bidders will be allowed to ‘bank’ their free commercial time. That is, in case a successful bidder has not exhausted the number of promotional commercials (totalling 240 seconds) permitted before the telecast of a particular programme, the balance can be used as and when the programme picks up in popularity.The exit option has also been relaxed: in case a producer decides to opt out of the scheme, he will need to give only 45 days notice instead of three months. The lock-in period for this has also been reduced from one year to six months.